Much of today was spent in the garden sweeping paths and spreading an attractive gravel (we have a cubic metre) over semi bare spots around the back and side gardens. And it made us feel better. Working in the garden is good for me....and my soul.
Ian arrived with two women around midday. He wanted to show them both the garden and the extension he planned for us (for those of you who don't known Ian was our architect and landscaper). He is designing an cottage extension for them also.
Much of today was spent in the garden sweeping paths and spreading an attractive gravel (we have a cubic metre) over semi bare spots around the back and side gardens. And it made us feel better. Working in the garden is good for me....and my soul.
Ian arrived with two women around midday. He wanted to show them both the garden and the extension he planned for us (for those of you who don't known Ian was our architect and landscaper). He is doing a cottage extension for them also.
I a
Had my last session with the Monash-Epworth research project last Friday. Don't know what it will prove, as I found little that was worthwhile in it. True, it helped my sleep patterns ( I now average 5.5-6.5 hrs a night as opposed to 4.5-5.5 hrs) and I exercise more. But my results were hardly startling.
I enjoyed the therapist, Adam, and found him most engaging. But it was not what I thought it would be. The exercise component was non existent, especially with the person who was meant to
Once again I apologise for the following rant.....
The spineless son in law continues his callous and cowardly ways. It has been more than a week, and he still can't tell Mia why he is leaving, apart from he wants to be " happy". And he has yet to devise a plan.
So Mia, bless her courageous little heart, has chosen to tell the kids this afternoon. Bill has no option but to fall into line. She demanded he take the day off work to join her in devising how and what they are telling the
Why do we have children? Why can life be so screwed up? Why can't some men tell the truth?
Our son-in-law has walked out on our daughter and her two children barely a month after moving into a new house. The reason? He wants to be happy. Never mind the unhappiness that his cowardly and greedy move has unleashed on her and the 5 and 8 year olds, on my wife and I, our son, our immediate family, his immediate family, and their many friends etc.
He wants to find happiness. So long as h
I must NOT go overboard with posting photos....but some are simply too cute not to......such as these tiny bird chicks I found nesting in one of our hedges:
Here are some photos..... I have no idea if I am permitted to post photos as part of a blog or if I have to post them elsewhere. But this is just to see if I have worked out the way to do it... Someone please tell me
Front of cottage.
Back of cottage before we began renovating.
After the renovation.
The garden before.
The garden after partial renovation.
I have at last worked out how to do photos on this site, and tomorrow I will post some of our cute cottage, its before and after garden, and maybe some shots of the Men's Shed and the Campaspe river.
I would have posted some today.....but Jules was getting grumpy about my computer work eating into my helping-in-the-garden time, and there is nothing quite like an enraged wife when she reckons her man is slacking!
Our footy team was crushed by the opposition tonight, so that was a disappoi
I again went to see my sleep man down in Melbourne, but we left early morning and didn't return to Kyneton until 6.30 pm, stopping off to see our son, going to Bunnings at Sunbury, having lunch, taking Jules to have a cut and trim (she's *beep* off with the Kyneton salons) and stopping to see our good friend Sheryl,
All in all it was a good day, although we had to go through our son's despair over his car, as some *beep* threw a metal star dropper through the front window so that the vehicle
I've been exercising 3-4 times since last Monday with a regime that now has me walking at a fast pace for 30 minutes every other day. And I have been getting up each morning at 7.30....a new experience for me!!!!! So far I have survived two weeks.
The pulse timer and watch thingy I was given to wear - and which I gave up on after five days - I am back to wearing following a visit to our local gym where (in desperation) I got one of the intructors to show me how to set it.
Now it see
I've got my first appointment and assessment at Sunshine Hospital's Pain and OT Clinic in October 1 at 9.30 am. This follows a referral from my neurologist, Nick Crump. It's a 71 km drive, but I should be able to do it. Anyway, it sounds interesting, and I will be keen to see what they say and suggest.
I don't reckon that medical people, despite their knowledge and experience, ever truly know how a stroke survivor feels. You have to have suffered stroke(s) and survived to really underst
Today was simply a run of the mill day. Nothing exciting.
Went to the hospital to have scans on my carotid arteries, but won't get the result until next week. Hopefully all will be OK. After my previous surgical experience that resulted in 3 strokes I hardly want to go under a surgeon's knife again.
Got a reply from Glenn Murcutt......well, not actually from the great man but from one of his minions.......and the answer was no. But after I read the explanation I can understand the re
The heading says it all. Have been in Melbourne for four days, and only returned late yesterday.
Friday was my birthday....I've hit the dreaded 69....and Sunday was Father's Day, and I wanted to spend both with the two children and grandchildren. And on Monday I saw my sleep man.
The sleep went well during the past 8-10 days, and I had two nights of 8 hours sleep. Might not seem like much to many of you, but when you have tended to have 4-5.5 hours sleep for the past 8+ years a couple
I spent several hours today editing the blog that I maintained on Australia's National Stroke Foundation's website, and which runs to some 250,000 words. I plan on editing it into around 150,000 words and self publishing it for a modest fee of around $5.75. Maybe with the title of "A stroke survivor's blog....or how I handled a tree change and lived!"
We'll see. Maybe that's too long a title!
But, in editing it today, and I've only done the first four months (the full blog runs for mo
Not a lot has happened since my last blog. But I have been to Melbourne to see my sleep therapist, and he has devised a program for me based on what I have told him, this is based on my current appalling sleep habits that see me get around 4-6 hours a night with most nights being interrupted by a toilet stop that results in around 30-45 minutes of lost sleep. Now, this does not mean that I spend up to 45 minutes standing in front of the toilet! Only 2-3 minutes actually, but it takes me ages
It's been several days since my last blog, but there have been reasons:
1) my daughter, Mia, has moved into a new home, and Jules and I helped her.
2) our son, Nick, arrived at our place unexpectedly yesterday to stay for 48 hours.
There have been other minor reasons also,, but after blogging here and on the Nationsl Stroke Foundation (Australia) for some four years almost daily, I reckon I deserve the break!
Tomorrow Jules, Nick and I are driving to. Daylesford to the Sunday mark
That's the score. My neurologist has talked to my neurophysio and they have both arrived at the conclusion that I am suffering from bad recovery.
Apparently my brain, after almost 6 years has started to reorganise itself, but instead of doing it in a "good" or "right" way, it is doing so in a "bad" way. So I asked him how we could re-organise the brain. He simply shrugged his shoulders and said, in a kind way, that he was uncertain. Now, he is a top guy, and assisted Alistair Clarkson, c
I don't admit defeat, but I believe that during the last five days I have so increased my exercise regime that I have done what my new "Explain Pain" book describes as "boom and bust"..... I have so far overdone it that my body has screamed at me: "You've exercised me far too much, you stupid *beep*! Slow down!"
I can hardly move without my body aching unimaginably painfully. The end result has been that I have spent the entire day either lying on my bed, or sitting in the warm sun (yup...
Felt better during this morning's walk, and that put a spring in my stride. But as the day progressed I got worse. Have been drinking plenty of water, as Ethyl suggested, but the pain around the torso and waist - at times - can become almost unbearable. But it is only momentary as I try to stand. But during those 5-6 seconds I feel as though I might not be able to overcome the pain and stand.
I'm hoping that it is all the result of my exercises and that it will go away as I try to fight
Today has not been one of my best, and I don't know why.
Went for my hill climb walk this morning, and completed it OK. Then did some computing for an hour or so before going to the Men's Shed for lunch. It was while I was there that I felt unsteady on my feet, and a tad light-headed. Chatted with the blokes for about 90 minutes, then drove home, where I still felt a tad light-headed.
Maybe it has been four days of harder physical work than I have done in a while (my normal 30 minute
I had most of today to myself, as Jules went tol Melbourne to spend the day browsing the fashion shops with daughter Mia. So just as I decided to cook Moroccan meatballs, architect Ian dropped by for coffee, and stayed for an hour or so. Then I managed to get into cooking after he left.
It takes me an age to cook these days, as having only one effective hand means I have to be careful with everything, specially the super sharp knives. I'm not much good at finely chopped onion, for example,
As the heading says, this was the way it was. Yesterday the bloody long steep hill......today it was the 15 minute walk before spending a horrendous 15 minutes pounding up and down steps of the race course grandstand. The calf muscles felt it first, then the knees. And then it was the lungs and heart.
But.....I feel better for it.....or so I like to think. And today I remembered the chest/heart monitor and the wrist gizmo. Sadly, I forgot I was wearing them until late afternoon! ;-(
My fitness program would make most of you blanch....including me.
I have made it so hard for myself by nominating tough roads and grandstands.....and had I realised what I was doing, I would have nominated different streets and grandstands!!!!
Firstly, I have to wear a heart monitor around my chest, and this "talks" to a gizmo on my wrist....and records my heart rate, distances I have gone and time it has taken.
I have, during the first month, three programs, and they all alternate
I have seen my fitness physio and my sleep guy. And I wonder what I have left myself in for. It's too late tonight to go into my new regime, but I will try to fill you all in tomorrow.
But my sleep person.....
1Canesfan, he is meant to be helping with improving my sleep. I have had, in the past, a notoriously poor sleep record, often recording just between 3-5 hours a night instead of the traditional 8 hours. A lot of this has been because I have an active and creative mind (I used
Never write your blog when it is past 11 pm. I have just read my previous blog and found a litany of errors caused mainly by predictive text and my up attention. I'm surprised people didn't leave rude comments aimed fairly and squarely at me. I deserved it.
Tomorrow I go to Melbourne to meet with my fitness physio for the first time, and to have my second meeting with my sleep therapist.
I understand the fitness physio is putting me through a stress test to determine how fit - or unfi
